Meet the Ultimate Dinosaurs Before They’re Gone

Monday, January 21, 2013 - 16:16

Mark Your Calendars for the Ultimate Family Day and March Break Experience

(Toronto, Ontario – DATE) The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announces the final days of Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana, presented by investment dealer Raymond James Ltd. Closing March 17, 2013, experience this original exhibition curated, designed, and produced by the ROM, showcasing some of the largest and most unusual dinosaurs from the Southern hemisphere, before they embark on an international tour. Featuring never before seen species and interactive installations, Ultimate Dinosaurs uses cutting-edge technologies and hands-on exhibits to showcase this new breed of beasts.

Exhibition Background

Surrounded by stunning life-like environmental murals immersing visitors in the land of the dinosaurs, the exhibition features real fossils, skeletons, and17full-scale skeletal casts, many of which have never been seen before in Canada.

Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana tells the story of the break-up of Pangaea into the continents that we know today and how that affected the evolution of dinosaurs during the Mesozoic, 250 – 65 million years ago. When dinosaurs first appeared around 240 million years ago, the Earth was assembled into the giant supercontinent Pangaea. As Pangaea divided first into Laurasia in the north and Gondwana in the south, and later into the many continents of today, dinosaurs were passengers on these drifting land masses. As a result, an amazing diversity of species evolved. Their imposed geographic isolation helped promote their evolution into an incredible array of unusual forms that dominated wherever they lived.

Augmented Reality and Interactive Technology

Visitors can experience these bizarre creatures through the use of Augmented Reality (AR), layering jaw-dropping virtual experiences over real environments. This is the first time the ROM has used AR technology in an exhibition setting. At two different points in the exhibition, visitors can scan dinosaur skeletons through a tablet screen provided and watch as the dinosaurs transform before their eyes - becoming animated and covered in skin.

AR is just one form of technology that the ROM has used to engage visitors. Ultimate Dinosaurs includes more multi-media than any exhibition in the Museum’s history, including: body-scanning technology inviting visitors to stop and explore life like a dinosaur, a multi-user game that challenges visitors to reassemble pieces of Gondwana while demonstrating the principles of tectonic plates and continental drift, and Digital Dinosaur Profiles featured on tablets throughout the exhibition allowing users to discover more information about these great Southern dinosaurs.

For more #UltimateDinos news, follow the Museum’s palaeontology experts on twitter @ROMPalaeo